OLD- DevOps Engineering part 1. (Win) – Make your Windows computer easier to use

Set up your computer

Display the file extensions

On Windows 11

  • Open the File Explorer
  • Click the arrow next to View and select Show
  • Mark File name extensions and Hidden items

On Windows 10

  • Open File Explorer
  • On the View tab select
    • File name extensions
    • Hidden items
      windows-03-show-file-extensions

On Windows 7

(if you accidentally run into an ancient machine)

  • Open Windows Explorer and select Organize
  • Select Folder and search options
    windows-02-show-file-extensions
  • On the View tab
    • Select Show hidden files, folders, and drives
    • Uncheck Hide extensions for known file types

To disable the Windows key

If you use a Macintosh computer you use the Command key all the time. Unfortunately, on the Windows keyboard you will always hit the Windows key. This can be very frustrating, as pressing the Windows key with any of the cursor keys will resize the window.

To disable the Windows key

  • Download the 64 bit version of PowerToys by Microsoft (currently PowerToysSetup-0.68.1-x64.exe) from https://github.com/microsoft/PowerToys/releases/tag/v0.68.1
  • Execute the installer file to install the application
  • Start Powertoys
  • On the left side select the Keyboard manager
  • Click the Open Settings button
  • Select Remap a key
  • Click the plus sign
  • On the left side select Win (Left), on the right side select Disable and click the OK button.
  • Click Continue Anyway

  1. 

    2. 



Virtual Box


Download Virtual Box from https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads and follow the instructions to install it.


At the time of writing, this was the section where the installer files were referenced


virtual-box-01-download


Run the downloaded installer file and accept all default values.


The installer starts the Virtual Box application.You can close it, we will use other tools to start it in the future.


To be able to launch 64 bit guest operating systems turn off Hyper-V in Windows Features


    

  1. In the Windows search box enter Windows Features and select Turn Windows Features on or off,
    2. 

  2. Uncheck Hyper-V and click OK,
    

    3. 

  3. Reboot the computer for the setting to take effect.
    4. 



Configure VirtualBox


Networking


To share the connectivity of the host computer with the virtual machine, mainly if you use VPN


    

  1. In Virtual box click Settings
    2. 

  2. Select Network
    3. 

  3. Attach the network adapter to NAT
    

    

    4. 



Copy and paste


To enable copy and paste between the virtual machine and the host ( your workstation )


    

  1. On the General tab of the Settings page select the Bidirectional shared clipboard
    

    2. 



Shared Folders


Specify the shared folder on your workstation


    

  1. In the VirtualBox menu select Preferences
    2. 

  2. On the Shared Folders tab click the + icon
    3. 

  3. To share the entire system drive, select the C: drive of your workstation
    

    4. 



Enable shared folders on the virtual machines


To enable the shared folders on the virtual machine and other configurations see Virtual machine configuration at VirtualBox




Vagrant


For Vagrant installation see Vagrant.




Ruby


    

  • Download Ruby from http://rubyinstaller.org/downloads
    • 

  • Install the 32 bit version, as the 64 bit version is fairly new and has compatibility issues. Download the latest Ruby installer. Pick the file that does not have the (x64) at the end.
    • 

  • Accept the default values but check Add Ruby executables to your PATH
    
ruby-01-add-to-path
    • 



 Ruby Development Kit


The Ruby Development Kit is need for certain Ruby gems, so install it.


    

  • Download the Ruby Development Kit from the DEVELOPMENT KIT section of  http://rubyinstaller.org/downloads
    • 

  • If you have installed the 32 bit version of Ruby make sure you install the 32 bit version of the DevKit. Select the Development kit that matches the Ruby version you installed. At the time of writing the latest development kit is under “For use with Ruby 2.0 and above (32bits version only)”

      

    • Run the installer to extract it to a permanent location (C:\RubyDevKit)
      • 

    • Open a command window in the C:\RubyDevKit folder
      • 

    • Run these commands in the command prompt to install it.

        

      • ruby dk.rb init
        • 

      • ruby dk.rb install
        • 

      

      • 

    

    • 

  • For more information see  http://github.com/oneclick/rubyinstaller/wiki/Development-Kit
    • 





Chef Development Kit



Terraform by Hashicorp


Install it with Chocolatey


    

  • Open a Git Bash window as administrator
    • 

  • Execute

    choco install terraform
    

    • 



or


Manual installation




    

  • Download Terraform from https://www.terraform.io/downloads.html
    • 

  • Unzip the downloaded package to C:\HashiCorp\Terraform
    • 

  • Add the Terraform directory to the path of the computer. It is not added automatically on 64 bit Windows.

      

    • In Windows Explorer right-click Computer and select Properties,
      • 

    • On the left side select Advanced System Settings,
      • 

    • At the bottom click the Environment Variables… button,
      • 

    • In the System Variables box select Path and click the Edit… button,
      • 

    • Add the following to the end of the Variable value. (Don’t forget to start with the semicolon as the separator).

      ;C:\HashiCorp\Terraform
      

      • 

    

    • 

  • To create RDS (Relational Database Service) instances in AWS, install the Amazon Web Services Command Line Interface (See instructions below)
    • 

  • Configure the GitBash window to run as administrator to be able to execute the “terraform get” command to get local modules during development

      

    • Right click the shortcut of the Bash window you use and select Properties
      • 

    • On the Compatibility tab check Run this program as an administrator
      • 

    

    • 



For more details see https://www.terraform.io/intro/getting-started/install.html




Graphviz


Graphviz is a Dependency Graph Visualization Software. We will use this utility to display the Terraform graphs.


    

  • Download from http://www.graphviz.org/Download..php
    
There are really two dots in the address :-)
    • 

  • Execute the installer
    • 

  • You may need to add the location to the Path environment variable. Make sure you use the actual folder name, as it contains the version of the application.

    ;C:\Program Files (x86)\GraphvizX.XX\bin
    

    • 





AWS CLI


The Amazon Web Services command line interface installation will set up your workstation to launch instances in AWS from Test Kitchen. If you know you will work with AWS, see DevOps Engineering part 3. – Working with AWS for the AWS CLI installation.


Packer


We use Packer to create custom AWS AMIs that contain the fundamental configuration and applications that are common in every instance we launch.


Install with Chocolatey


    

  • Open a Git Bash window as administrator
    • 

  • Execute

    choco install packer
    

    • 



or


Manual Installation



    

  • Add the Packer executable or installation directory to the system path
    • 



Nice to have utilities


WinDirStat


Screenshot


WinDirStat is a disk utility to display the relative size of your files in a graphical interface and provide a tree view to help to find them.


Download it from https://windirstat.net/


Next:


Set up the DevOps development environment in Beginner’s Guide to DevOps Engineering part 2.


Back:


to the Tutorials page

	


	





	

		
Your session has timed out. Please try again. Code 5107 in the
	


	
	

		
To download apps from the Apple Store you need an Apple Id. If the app is free, you may not want to enter credit card information during the registration. If you try to create the Apple Id without the credit card in the App Store application, you may get the following error message:


Your session has timed out. Please try again. Code 5107


To create the Apple Id without a credit card


    

  • Start iTunes on your Macintosh,
    • 

  • Click the drop down menu in the upper left corner,
    

    • 

  • If Apps is visible, select it, otherwise click Edit Menu… in the same drop down,
    

    

      

    • To display Apps in the drop down, select the check box next to it.
      

      • 

    

    • 

  • On the top of the screen click the App Store button,
    

    • 

  • In the upper right corner search for a free app in the App Store and start to download it,
    

    • 

  • Create a new Apple Id and select None for credit card type.
    • 


	


	





	

		
`block in filter_instances’: undefined method `empty?’ for nil:NilClass (NoMethodError)
	


	
	

		
When you try to execute any of the “kitchen” commands in Chef Test Kitchen you may get the following error message.


lib/kitchen/config.rb:182:in `block in filter_instances': undefined method `empty?' for nil:NilClass (NoMethodError)


This happened in my cookbook, when I have removed the value from the “excludes:” option in the .kitchen.yml file, but left the “excludes:” option there alone.


To make your cookbook work in Chef Test Kitchen again, remove the empty “excludes:” option form the .kitchen.yml file

	


	





	

		
Failed to open file ‘…’ , error 2 and error 22
	


	
	

		
How to restore a MySQL database in Windows


To restore a MySQL database on a Windows machine:


    

  • Place the database backup file in the root directory of your C: drive (trust me, this will make your life easier)
    • 

  • Open the Command Prompt
    • 

  • Start the MySQL command prompt
    • 

  • 

    mysql -u root -p
    

    This command will prompt you for the MySQL root password
    • 

  • Switch to the new database

    use db;
    

    • 

  • Import the database

    source C:/BACKUP_FILE_NAME.sql
    

    To avoid the Failed to open file ‘…’ , error 2 and error 22 error message
    
You can have spaces in the name of the backup file, but not in the directory names in the path
    
Do not use quotes around the file path
    
Use forward slashes
    
Do not end the command with semicolon (;)
    • 


	


	





	

		
The FastCGI process exited unexpectedly
	


	
	

		
When you install WordPress on a Windows machine you may get the following error message:


HTTP Error 500.0 - Internal Server Error
C:\Program Files (x86)\PHP\v5.5\php-cgi.exe - The FastCGI process exited unexpectedly

Detailed Error Information:
Module
 FastCgiModule
Notification
 ExecuteRequestHandler
Handler
 PHP55_via_FastCGI1
Error Code
 0x000000ff


The error message is misleading. If you open the Application events in the Event Viewer you may find the following


Faulting application name: php-cgi.exe, version: 5.5.38.0, time stamp: 0x578fc02c
Faulting module name: MSVCR110.dll, version: 6.3.9600.18233, time stamp: 0x56bb4e1d
Exception code: 0xc0000135
Fault offset: 0x0009d3c2
Faulting process id: 0xcec
Faulting application start time: 0x01d24603ad650d40
Faulting application path: C:\Program Files (x86)\PHP\v5.5\php-cgi.exe
Faulting module path: MSVCR110.dll


The key is the MSVCR110.dll


This DLL is part of the Visual C++ Redistributable for Visual Studio 2012 Update 4. Download the 32 bit version, even if you have a 64 bit operating system, from http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=30679


After the installation WordPress will start to work without reboot.


 

	


	





	

		
Serialize SSH and RSA private keys to store them in a Chef Data Bag
	


	
	

		
To send RSA private keys to instances, store them in encrypted data bags. The data bag item is a JSON file that contains keys and values inline.


Use base64 encoding


Base64 encoding converts binary data to ASCII format to represent special characters, like line breaks as ASCII text. The result will be larger, 8 / 6th of the original size, as every 8 bit ASCII character only represents 6 bits of data.


To convert a file to base 64 and save it as another file


cat test.pem | base64 > test.pem.base64


If we need the result on the computer’s clipboard to paste it into a field on the screen


cat test.pem | base64 | pbcopy


To use the encoded string we need to decode it in the Chef cookbook.


Replace the newline characters with \n


To place the multi-line RSA key into the value part of the JSON file, we need to replace the new line characters with the “\n” text.


In Atom


on Mac and Windows


    

  1. Open the RSA key file in Atom,
    2. 

  2. Press Command-F on Mac, Ctrl-F on Windows to open the Find and Replace window,
    3. 

  3. On the right side click the Use Regex button,
    

    4. 

  4. In the search field enter

    \r\n
    

    5. 

  5. In the replace with field enter

    \\n
    

    6. 

  6. Press the Replace All button
    7. 



In Visual Studio Code


on Mac and Windows


    

  • Press Command-F on Mac, Ctrl-F on Windows to open the Find dialog
    • 

  • Select the Use Regular Expression button
    • 

  • Enter \n into the find, \\n into the replace field
    

    • 



In Notepad++


on Windows


    

  • Open the RSA key file in Notepad++,
    • 

  • In the Search menu select Replace…,
    • 

  • Select Extended mode in the Search Mode section,
    • 

  • Enter \r\n to the Find what text box ( if the key was generated on a Windows computer using GitBash, search for \n )
    • 

  • Enter \\n  to the Replace with text box
    • 

  • Press the Replace All button
    • 







You can place the single line key into any encrypted Data Bag file. See Data Bags on Data Bag encryption.

	


	









	

		
HTTP Request Returned 409 Conflict: Client already exists
	


	
	

		
The Chef server maintains the list of registered nodes and clients in its database.  When you launch a new instance with Chef you may encounter the following error message:


*** Input CHEF_CLIENT_NODE_NAME is undefined, using: IP-0AFE6965
...
*** Starting chef-client
*** Finished chef-client
Printing Log
...
[...] INFO: Client key C:\chef\client.pem is not present - registering
[...] INFO: HTTP Request Returned 409 Conflict: Client already exists
[...] INFO: HTTP Request Returned 403 Forbidden: error
[...] ERROR: Running exception handlers
[...] ERROR: Exception handlers complete
[...] FATAL: Stacktrace dumped to C:/chef/cache/chef-stacktrace.out
[...] FATAL: Please provide the contents of the stacktrace.out file if you file a bug report
[...] FATAL: Net::HTTPServerException: 403 "Forbidden"


Cause:


In this case the CHEF_CLIENT_NODE_NAME already exists in the client database.You can search for it from a Bash window.


Solution:


Add a line to the Chef configuration to remove the existing node with the same node name


If you use Terraform to launch server instances and configure Chef, add this line to the Chef provisioner:


recreate_client = true


To delete nodes from the Chef server:


Use the knife command to search for the existing node from a Bash window.


To find the node in the Chef server database


knife search node '*:IP-0AFE6965'


To find the client in the Chef server database


knife search client '*:IP-0AFE6965'


If any of them found, those are leftovers from a previous launch. AWS reuse the IDs, so you have to remove the nodes from the Chef server database when you terminate the instances. To delete the unnecessary entries use the following commands:


knife node delete 'IP-0AFE6965'
knife client delete 'IP-0AFE6965'


To remove the terminated instances from the Chef server database you can also use the Chef web interface.


    

  • On the Nodes tab enter the IP address of the instance into the search box and hit Enter
    • 

  • In the Actions column click the down arrow next to the instance and select Delete
    • 


	


	





	

		
How to edit the GitHub README.md file
	


	
	

		
The GitHub repositories usually contain a README.md file to describe how to use the project. The GitHub web site has a simple editor, but it has a few limitations


    

  • If you accidentally refresh the page, you lose your changes,
    • 

  • The preview pane is wider than the page that will display your file, so the formatting can be different,
    • 

  • You have to switch between the editor and the the preview every time you want to see the result.
    • 



One of the simplest ways to edit the README.md is to use the Atom editor.


    

  • Open the README.md file with Atom,
    • 

  • In the Packages menu select Markdown Preview, or press Ctrl-Shitft-M to open the preview pane.
    • 



As you type in the editor window the preview pane will show the live review of the file.


For the Markdown syntax visit https://guides.github.com/pdfs/markdown-cheatsheet-online.pdf